The eCommerce industry’s current expansion is projected to continue in the coming years. Many beginner entrepreneurs have been encouraged to take advantage of the sector’s enormous growth potential by starting up an eCommerce site to sell items and services to clients.
If you want to follow in their footsteps and start an eCommerce business, you’ll need to first create a website for your store. When it comes to building an eCommerce website, you have two alternatives. The first option is to engage a web developer, but the associated costs may limit your company’s potential to expand swiftly. The other alternative is to use an already-built eCommerce platform, which will save you time and money when it comes to developing your store’s website.
With so many eCommerce systems available that appear to offer comparable features, deciding which one is best for your company can be tough. As a result, we’re going to share some key considerations that will help you choose the best platform for your eCommerce business.
1. Safety and security
Customers will not purchase anything from your eCommerce site unless they are confident that their financial information is safe from hackers and data thieves. As a result, whichever platform you use must include critical security features such as PCI compliance, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate, fraud detection, and data backups. Security audits should also be performed on the platform to identify any security risks. As a result, suitable adjustments can be made to safeguard clients from the dangers.
You should choose a platform that is written in an object-oriented programming language because such platforms have security mechanisms inherent in them.
Magento and Shopify are two well-known platforms that emphasize two-factor authentication as a means of lowering website security. Security plugins can offer extra security to systems that don’t have multi-factor authentication for critical data protection.
2. Search engine optimization
Customers will only visit your website if they can locate your store in search engines while looking for products similar to the ones you offer. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is essential to improve your site’s ranking and visibility in the search engines.
As a result, the platform you select should include capabilities such as allowing users to create a product’s meta description, adding a blog to their website, utilizing their own domain name, allowing consumers to give reviews, Google site map support, and so on. The presence of these elements in the platform will have a direct impact on the SEO rankings of your website.
Some SEO-friendly eCommerce platforms are Onveos, Magento, OpenCart, and Woocommerce. While Onveos delivers stand-alone SEO aspects, the other three bolster inbound marketing efforts.
3. Web Design That Is Responsive
With more than half of all American eCommerce shoppers making purchases on their mobile device in 2019, eCommerce retailers can’t afford to neglect this important sector of the market. Customers should be able to simply visit their website and make purchases from their mobile device.
If eCommerce companies choose to have a desktop and mobile site, they will have to manage separate marketing campaigns, ads, product information, catalogs, and so on. As a result, their costs will rise and their resources would be depleted.
A responsive web design, which automatically adjusts a site to the screen sizes of multiple devices such as desktops, laptops, mobile phones, and tablets, is a better and more cost-effective alternative to a separate desktop and mobile site. As a result, responsive web design enables you to give a wonderful user experience regardless of the device they use.
Choose a platform that allows for responsive web design. The Magento, WooCommerce, and Shopify platforms all come with a variety of responsive themes and layouts for building vertically stacked websites. Users can also change HTML and CSS directly in Shopify. Within the platform, they may also modify the size, position, and color of any piece on the page.
4. Supports a variety of sales channels
An eCommerce store’s revenue can be increased by supplying products/services through various selling channels. As a result, you should pick a platform that allows you to offer products or services across a variety of channels, such as Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Amazon, among others.
Some of the top multi-channel eCommerce platforms include Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, and PrestaShop. These technologies allow you generate various selling choices in online marketplaces and gain increased revenue by offering centralized control of your inventory data.
5. Integrations
An eCommerce platform comes with everything you’ll need to run a successful online store. Still, connectors and plugins are required to provide crucial capabilities such as tax calculators, payment gateways, accounting, email marketing tools, shipping apps, and so on to a platform.
You’ll come across a set of required connectors and plugins that are universal across all eCommerce platforms. However, you should choose a platform that offers relevant connectors and plugins, as well as an active community that is continually working to develop the platform and handle any difficulties.
6. Technical Assistance
Unwanted events such as software outages, server downtimes, and server crashes can happen at any time, making it difficult for customers to access your site and make transactions. These will not only cost you money, but they will also harm your brand’s image.
You’ll need quick technical support from your eCommerce platform to get out of these scenarios and get your store back up and running.
As a result, you should choose a platform that delivers help when you need it. Don’t forget to ask these questions of a platform’s customer support staff before deciding on it. Is technical support available around the clock or only during certain hours? What methods will they use to deliver support: phone, online or chat, self-service, etc.? What are the many types of service they provide and how much do they cost?
7. The ability to scale
Your eCommerce firm will expand with the passage of time. As a result, you should select a platform that can grow with your company. Furthermore, the platform should not demand unreasonable prices for additional functionality and storage to accommodate your growing business needs.
8. Cost
One of the most significant factors to consider when selecting a platform for your store is the cost. The cost of an eCommerce platform is determined by a number of elements, including design, setup configuration, self-hosted vs. hosted, bespoke development, and maintenance.
The cost of different eCommerce platforms varies. The Shopify platform starts at $9 per month and goes up to $299 per month. Volusion offers a monthly fee that ranges from $15 to $299 per month. BigCommerce starts at $29.95 per month and goes all the way up to $249.95 per month. 3dcart offers a monthly fee that ranges from $19 to $229 each month.
While Shopify is best for business owners who need a lot of functionality and add-ons in their app, Volusion is more focused on selling. While BigCommerce is ideal for SEO, 3dcart comes with a slew of useful features and excels at building and managing eCommerce stores.
Comparing the pricing of various platforms in relation to their benefits and drawbacks can assist you in selecting the finest platform for your budget.
Choosing the appropriate eCommerce platform the first time is critical to the seamless operation and growth of your company. If you don’t make the appropriate option now, you’ll have to migrate to another eCommerce platform later, which can be a difficult, time-consuming, and costly experience. Analyzing the aforementioned elements of available platforms will assist you in selecting the best platform for the unique demands of your store’s website and achieving success in the world of eCommerce the first time.
